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Trump Promises Vaccine Is Weeks Away During Waterford Rally
President Donald Trump promised to deliver a safe vaccine for the coronavirus “in just a number of weeks, a couple of weeks” during a rally at the Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township Oct. 30.
He told the crowd of thousands the speed of creating the vaccine is the result of his “historic campaign to slash red tape and mobilize industry.”
Seniors will get the vaccine first, he said, then health care workers. But even without the vaccine, he contended the country is “still rounding the corner.”
“We have it, but without it we round the corner. And it will be available free. We are doing the vaccine free and the reason is, this wasn’t your fault. This wasn’t anyone’s fault. This was China’s fault. Just remember it. Our vaccine will eradicate the virus much more quickly and end the pandemic quickly, quickly, quickly because we want to have our life restored just to normal. That’s all we want, is normal,” Trump said.
He took a few opportunities to take swipes at Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, despite not mentioning her by name.
“We’ve got to get our governor to open up our state here, don’t we? Don’t worry, on Nov. 4 they’ll announce, all these Democrat-run states will be open,” Trump told the crowd.
When attendees began to chant “lock her up,” Trump said no.
“Not me. Not me. They blame me every time that happens, every time I mention her name,” Trump said.
Of course, most of his criticism was reserved for his opponent, Democrat Joe Biden.
“He was never known as the smart one in the Senate. He was a touchy-feely guy with a little personality, had a good personality. Now the personality is gone and a lot of other things are gone. He’ll deliver poverty, misery, depression. I will deliver jobs, jobs, jobs. Good ones,” Trump said.
He touted his performance on handling the economy so far.
“How good have I done in bringing car companies here? You went 42 years without a car plant. You were losing all your plants. Twelve years ago I was named Man of the Year of Michigan, long before I thought about . . . I got up and I made a speech and I said, ‘you are losing all your car business.’ Somebody gave me a list. You lost 32 percent of your car business to Mexico and other places, and now we are bringing it all back. You have many, many factories now under construction, expansions of existing.”
In fact, one new auto plant is under construction currently in Michigan, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ new Detroit Assembly Complex, an expansion of its former engine complex into an assembly plant. No fact checkers have ever been able to find who might have named Trump Man of the Year in Michigan 12 years ago.
He claimed the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was not just a V but a “super V.”
In the last five months, Trump claimed a record 11.4 million jobs have been created, “the most jobs in that short period of time ever created.” That figure, however, represents about half the jobs lost nationally since the outset of the pandemic.
He took several other swipes at the media, as well. He began to mention Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and then stopped to accuse the television crews of turning off their cameras. That produced boos from the crowd, but the television news crews didn’t appear to move or turn off their cameras.
“I don’t know what happened to FOX,” Trump said. “We still have a few great ones at FOX . . . but somewhere along the line we lost FOX,” he said.
He claimed to spot FOX host Laura Ingraham in the crowd.
“I do believe Laura Ingraham is here someplace. Where is she? Where is Laura? I can’t recognize you. Is that a mask? No way. Are you wearing a mask? I’ve never seen her in a mask. Look at you. She is being very politically correct,” Trump said.
He gave shout-outs to Paul Junge, GOP candidate running in the 8th Congressional District, and Eric Esshaki, candidate for the 11th US House District, as well as Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox.
“With your support we will continue to bring back your jobs, cut your taxes, cut your regulations, support our great police, support our military, defend our borders, protect the Second Amendment which is under siege, protect always religious liberty and ensure more products are proudly stamped with the wonderful phrase—who knows what it is?—made in the USA,” Trump told the crowd.
Air Force One landed late, getting the rally started about a half-hour late. About half the crowd appeared to be wearing face masks, most of them MAGA face masks, but did not use social distancing. His speech ran roughly an hour and ten minutes. He finished his speech about 2:40 p.m.
He was scheduled to make two more campaign appearances today, at the Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, Wis., and the Rochester International Airport, in Rochester, Minn.
Earlier in the day, the Michigan Democratic Party held an online press conference to counter the President’s message.
“I am just overwhelmed by what a disaster this presidency has been to the state of Michigan,” said U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.). “We have 57,000 fewer manufacturing jobs right now than at the beginning of his term. And we have less auto jobs in Michigan. His failed COVID-19 response has shuttered factories and sent the unemployment rate skyrocketing.”
From the moment Trump was first elected, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said she knew Trump was intent on repealing the Affordable Care Act.
“Even during the middle of a pandemic, he has fought to roll back the Affordable Care Act and gut protections for pre-existing conditions. Even as unemployment benefits expire for laid off workers and small businesses exhausted their PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans, Donald Trump put appointing his Supreme Court pick first,” Barnes said.
She estimated 827,000 Michiganders will lose coverage if the ACA is overturned.
“What’s more, insurance companies could hike premiums or deny coverage to Michiganders with diabetes, cancer and even lasting effects from the coronavirus related to pre-existing conditions, impacting over 160,000 people in this state and counting, because of Trump’s incompetence,” Barnes said.
Considering that many ballots have already been cast and polls show few voters are still undecided about the contest, Levin was asked how much last-minute appearances by Trump and Biden could actually move the needle.
“This is not about persuading people, or people who are going to flow one way or another, who haven’t decided,” Levin said. “It is really about turnout, and it is about whether somebody who is worried about their health is going to be able to get out there, who may have pre-existing conditions.
“It is about somebody who is working two and three jobs, will they find the time. It is about the single parent. We just want to motivate everybody and help everybody to vote because when everybody votes, Democrats win.”
New polling released by the Trafalgar Group this morning shows Trump with a 2.5 percentage point lead over Biden in Michigan. The survey, taken Oct. 25-28, shows Trump has 49.1 percent of the vote and Biden with 46.6 percent.
Shirkey, Chatfield Offer To Kickstart COVID-19 Discussions
Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) and House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) are looking at getting the ball rolling on COVID-19 state policy discussions with the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, legislative minority leaders, physicians and hospital officials.
The leaders penned a letter late last month calling for a “collaborative effort” to “discuss emerging data” that “will benefit all Michiganders.”
“It is well past time we all stop arguing from afar and in the press and start working together in person for the people who are counting on us,” Shirkey and Chatfield wrote. “Time is of the essence and we welcome a commitment from our partners, or their designee to meet at their earliest convenience.”
Asked about the letter at a press conference today and whether she’d attend, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said, “We have had so many opportunities to brief the Legislature” and that she would “of course take every opportunity to do that.”
Whitmer added, “this letter might lead you to conclude those opportunities have not been made available to them when they have throughout COVID-19.”
The Shirkey-Chatfield letter comes nearly four weeks since the state Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the 1945 “Riot Act,” which Whitmer was using as her legal ground for her rolling emergency executive orders that had restricted gatherings, among other COVID-19 response restrictions.
It also comes a week after a group of health, university and business leaders came together to tell elected leaders to have “complete unity of purpose” and that government leaders should “foster that unity” in the fight against COVID-19.
That letter included the names of hospital leaders and university presidents, as well as leaders from DTE, General Motors, UAW, AFL-CIO and several other corporations and business organizations.
Case numbers are now at their highest levels since the pandemic started in March, with new daily infections more than 2,000. However, daily death tolls are in the 30s to 20s, far below the numbers from April.
Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich (D-Flint) is in . . . once the meeting is scheduled.
“We’re glad to see Republican leadership finally recognize that there’s a deadly pandemic going on out there. We’ve been working with the governor for eight months on this and they’re welcome to join us.”
House Minority Leader Christine Greig (D-Farmington Hills) said she’s always ready to have a serious conversation about combatting the pandemic, but . . . “Speaker Chatfield is still not taking it seriously. He was at (Tuesday’s President Donald Trump) rally with no mask and surrounded by others without masks.”
The Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA) is seeing a “concerning trend of increasing hospitalizations” and welcomes the opportunity to meet with leaders in a collaborative format to discuss situation, said spokesperson John Karasinski.
15 Straight Days Of 1K+ Reported COVID Cases Longest Run Yet
Oct. 23 was the 15th day in a row the state has reported more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19, with another 1,826 cases and 18 more deaths.
That’s the longest stretch of days of quadruple-digit case numbers since the pandemic began. The previous longest run was 13 days in a row, from March 30-April 11.
For the month, cases have topped 30,000, putting October in striking distance of April, when there were 33,764 cases. But October’s death total so far – 385 – is below the April peak of 3,530 deaths that month.
Positive test rates over the past seven days is at 5% for the state as a whole, according to the MI Safe Start Map. A month ago, that rate was 3.1 percent.
Case rates over the past seven days are at 101.4 per day per million people, up from the 78.2 per day per million people a month ago.
The death rate stands at 20 per day, with the seven-day average back on Sept. 23 at nine per day.
Currently, 0.8 percent of emergency room visits involve COVID symptoms, which is similar to 0.6 percent at this time last month and below the 5.2 percent back in late March.
The statewide cumulative totals of today are 154,688 cases and 7,147 deaths.
Former CDC Director: ‘Nowhere Near’ End Of Pandemic
A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent said Oct. 26 we’re “nowhere near” the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and that the “risk of explosive spread isn’t going to end when we get a vaccine.”
Dr. Thomas Frieden, the CDC director under former President Barack Obama, made his remarks during a virtual COVID-19 roundtable event hosted by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
“It’s really important to be clear, this is not going away anytime soon,” he said, who also was New York City’s commissioner of health and mental hygiene from 2002 to 2009.
Frieden said that COVID-19 is a long-term threat to public health and is the most disruptive infectious disease threat the world has faced in a century.
Later during the roundtable that featured health experts and officials, John DeLedda, chief medical officer for Henry Ford Hospital and Henry Ford Medical Group, said it’s about managing expectations when it comes to the pandemic.
“I can remember thinking . . . back in February and March, thinking, OK, if we just get through these next couple of months, we’ll get to the other side and life will be back to normal,” he said. “Over the course of . . . that time period, recognizing that we were not talking about weeks and months, we’re talking about months and years, here, before there’s such a thing as life back to normal, and even when we get there, I . . . doubt it will look much like it did pre-March of 2020.”
Before the most recent surge of cases – with Michigan now at higher levels than the previous peak in April – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had said she thought it might be a “matter of months” until Michigan emerges from being out of a COVID-19 emergency.
Asked if the governor still believes that in light of Frieden’s comments, Whitmer spokesperson Tiffany Brown said, “the governor has always prefaced that statement making it clear that data and science will inform any decisions.”
DHHS Allowing Indoor Nursing Home Visits
Indoor visits at nursing homes will be allowed under certain circumstances, in an emergency order issued by Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon Oct. 21.
The order links visitation rules by a county’s risk level, as determined by the state’s MI Safe Start Map. Indoor visitation will now be allowed in areas where the current risk level is A, B, C, or D, as long as the facilities have had no new cases, including those involving residents or staff, within the prior 14 days.
But indoor visits will not be allowed in counties at risk level E, meaning the average daily cases per million is greater than 150 or the positivity rate greater than 20 percent.
Three House Republicans—Reps. Julie Calley (R-Portland), Bronna Kahle (R-Adrian) and Bradley Slagh (R-Zeeland Twp.) labeled the latest emergency order a “step in the right the direction.”
“Our seniors in nursing homes have been isolated and alone for too long, and I have heard from many people in our community about the detrimental effects isolation has had on their parents, grandparents and other loved ones,” Calley said.
Kahle, a former senior center director in Lenawee County, urged the administration to determine their visitation policies based on county-level data, not data that is compiled regionally. Still, Kahle called the move a “great leap.”
Under the rules, some visitors will be required to receive COVID testing prior to entry, and visitors will have to wear facemasks at all times and maintain social distancing.
The DHHS said visitors participating in end-of-life visits may have physical contact with a resident if that resident is not COVID-19 positive, the visitors are wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and the time spent within six feet of the resident is no longer than 15 minutes.
While Gordon said, “visitation is a substantial source of risk,” the order will provide “a plan for visitation that mitigates risk and continues necessary protections in facilities across the state.”
The Health Care Association of Michigan said it views the DHHS announcement as “a positive step toward carefully reuniting residents with their family and friends. This is an important quality of life issue for our residents as safely reintroducing in-person visits with their loved ones is essential to their mental and physical well-being.”
The order continues to limit communal dining and internal and external group activities consistent with federal guidance and it requires quick notification in the event an employee or resident is confirmed as positive for COVID-19, according to DHHS.
Health Care Focus Of Biden’s Visit; Docs Question Trump Visit
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden shifted the conversation back to health care in mid October in a 33-minute address in Southfield in which he keyed in on President Donald Trump’s alleged determination “to destroy the Affordable Care Act.”
In nominating Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the US Supreme Court and supporting the lawsuit to throw out the Obama-era health care expansion plan, Trump is showing that in a “God-awful economic crisis,” he’s fine with watching 100 million Americans lose protections from pre-existing conditions.
If elected, Biden said he plans to “build on” the ACA by offering a Medicare-like public health insurance option for citizens who don’t like their private plan. The plan will have lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, lowering costs on Michigan families.
“I promise you, when I’m president, I’ll take care of your health coverage the same way I would take care of my own family,” Biden said.
In response, Trump Victory spokesperson Chris Gustafson said the President’s America First Health Care Agenda is lowering health care costs and providing more flexibility in how Michiganders receive care while protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions.
Biden spoke at the Beach Woods Rec Center in Southfield shortly after 4 p.m. with an undercard consisting of U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Alexia Mansour, an East Lansing stay-at-home mother whose family didn’t have health care until the ACA offered individual marketplace plans.
A couple dozen spectators watched the speech from chairs socially distanced apart with circles taped on a gymnasium floor.
Bipartisanship was another overarching theme, with Whitmer saying Biden “will work with anyone he needs to get things done. He’s made lifelong friends on both sides of the aisle because he’s a good, decent human being who cares about all Americans.”
The former vice president said, “Folks, if we can’t unite the country, we’re in trouble. America and our system runs on consensus. Compromise is not a dirty word.”
Biden participated in three local media interviews before heading to Detroit where he’s scheduled to attend an event urging Michiganders to vote early in person at their local clerk’s office or a satellite voting center.
The visit is Biden’s second in Michigan in the past two weeks and two days after Vice President Mike Pence spoke in Grand Rapids.
Just as Pence gave multiple plugs to US Senate candidate John James and US Rep. candidate Peter Meijer, Biden gave several references to the need for voters to bring back Peters to the Senate.
“We’re going to need Gary back in the United States Senate, looking out for Michigan families, because we’re going to win back the U.S. Senate,” he said. When we do, we’re going to change things.”
Biden rained praise on Whitmer, saying, “there’s not a better governor in the United States of America” who stood up “straight and tall” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You’re pretty much doing it better than anybody else in the whole United States of America,” he said. “You’ve shown this whole nation how tough and thoughtful you are, just like Michigan.”
He called Stabenow a “sister,” with whom he worked with closely for several years in the Senate.
Doc To Shirkey: ‘You have no idea what you are talking about’
Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) is getting pushback from Democrats and health care professionals over comments included in a news article, in which he said he believes “an element of herd immunity” needs to happen in Michigan.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a statement about the comment, which included a letter addressed to Shirkey from five medical doctors.
“If ‘herd immunity’ were to begin after about 80 percent of the state’s population has been infected, as some believe, then 6.5 million more Michiganders would still need to contract COVID-19. At the current mortality rate, this would mean more than 30,000 additional deaths – more than four times the number of deaths to date,” the letter states.
A better alternative would be to control the spread of the coronavirus through policies based on evidence, followed by wide use of a safe and effective vaccine when it becomes available, the doctors stated.
The letter – signed by Dr. Joshua Sharfstein; Dr. Thomas File, Jr.; Dr. Tom Frieden; Dr. Ashish Jha; and Carlos Del Rio – asked the Senate to hold a hearing with experts in public health so legislators can better understand the nature of the virus and how to best respond.
Shirkey’s not backing down. His comments were quoted in an MLive article.
He is quoted as saying he doesn’t believe “oppressive mandates” have to continue. No business will put customers, employees, or patrons at risk, he contended.
“Nobody should be misled here or of the opinion that you can keep it from spreading – it’s going to spread, so we just do the best we can,” Shirkey is quoted as saying. “I’m also a big believer that there’s an element of herd immunity that needs to take place.”
The Majority Leader believes the concept of herd immunity should be part of the discussion moving forward on policies regarding COVID, according to his spokesperson Amber McCann.
“He is not a medical expert and therefore is open to the research and expertise of professionals who are willing to weigh in on the topic. I do expect the Senate to have several hearings in the coming days and weeks where medical professionals and others can offer their perspective on best practices,” McCann said..
Emergency room physician Dr. Rob Davidson posted a response to Shirkey on Twitter, saying Whitmer has done all she could to protect the lives of Michiganders using mask mandates, limits on social gatherings, and stay-at-home orders. The Legislature and Shirkey have opposed her “at every step,” Davidson contended.
“And now today I see a report that he says he thinks we need a little bit of herd immunity. Sen. Shirkey, this is directly to you, you have no idea what you are talking about. Herd immunity is something we try to achieve with a vaccine,” Davidson said.
A safe vaccine may be coming in the next few months, he said.
“But trying to get a little bit of herd immunity, as you say it, at this time is going to result in the deaths of tens of thousands of Michiganders that wouldn’t have to die. This is a terrible disease. It affects people old and young and certainly, if you are older and you have some pre-existing conditions, it will affect you worse, despite what the president says,” Davidson said. “Please work with the Governor so we can have the continued mandate of masks and limit social gatherings so we can continue to protect Michiganders, protect our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed, and ride this out until we get to a vaccine. Then we can achieve herd immunity the way it was intended.”
Davidson ran for the 2nd Congressional District as a Democrat in 2018.
Meanwhile, the state reported another 1,809 cases and seven deaths, which covers both Sunday and Monday numbers. The statewide cumulative numbers are now 136,465 cases and 6,898 deaths.
State Keeping Empty Field Hospitals Until End Of ’20, Costs $4.6M
The two empty field hospitals set aside as additional bed space for COVID-19 patients had both of their leases renewed by the state to run through the end of the year, but at a lower cost than what was being paid out before.
The state’s lease for the alternative care facility at Novi’s Suburban Collection Showplace was renewed to run from October to the end of 2020 at a cost of $975,000 a month, down from the $1.1 million shelled out per month before, said Bob Wheaton, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The space reserved for COVID-19 patients at TCF Center in Detroit was renewed for the same time period at a rate of $568,750, less than the $758,333.33 per month paid before, said Caleb Buhs, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.
That works out to a total cost of $2.9 million for Suburban for the renewal and $1.7 million for the total renewal cost at TCF, for a grand total of $4.6 million, although Wheaton said that’s being paid for with federal dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coronavirus Relief Fund.
While the costs to run both facilities are incurred by the federal government and reconciled by FEMA, once FEMA determines those costs, Michigan would be billed for its cost share requirements, and at most, the state would be responsible for 25 percent of the costs, the state has said previously.
Neither facility has any patients in it currently. Back in mid-May, the facilities had cared for a combined 50 people up to that point. Wheaton said Suburban had cared for a grand total of 16 people so far and TCF cared for 39 patients.
As to why the state decided to renew the lease, Wheaton said “being prepared for a potential second wave of COVID-19 cases is a top priority for” the DHHS.
Sen. Lana Theis (R-Brighton), however, sees the lease renewal at Suburban as a waste of taxpayer of dollars.
“It is not a bad idea to have a field hospital to treat people with COVID-19 if one is truly needed,” Theis said in a statement. “But the fact is they never used the space they created, even when it would have provided medical space to quarantine our COVID-19-positive patients. The uncertainty and fear during the first few months that the coronavirus outbreak would overwhelm hospitals failed to materialize.”
Some Republicans have suggested using the field hospitals as a way to isolate COVID-positive nursing home residents instead of sending them back to nursing facilities, albeit in isolated wings. The state has said that’s not a viable option.